Viewpoint column + Inflation | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/series/viewpointcolumn+inflation
model.DotcomContentType$TagIndex$@49da2b01en-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:47:30 GMT2018-03-19T14:47:30Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Inflation will come down but may not be soonhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/16/inflation-bank-of-england-letter
It is taking too long for inflation to fall, inflation hawks grumble and the medium term is becoming the long term<p>Tuesday saw another exchange of letters between the governor of the Bank of England and the chancellor, and another set of assurances that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/16/uk-inflation-shoppers-cut-back" title="">inflation</a> will fall once temporary factors, such as the VAT increase, higher energy costs and higher import prices, dissipate. To the inflation hawks, the story has become too familiar – it is taking too long for inflation to fall, they grumble, and the medium term is becoming the long term.</p><p>They should hold their fire and recall what happened in 2008. In July of that year, as in July of this year, the CPI measure of inflation was 4.4%. By September 2008, the reading was 5.2% as utility firms increased prices to pass on higher wholesale costs. The same forces are at work now. Electricity and gas prices are going up and CPI seems very likely to rise above 5% within a couple of months.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/16/inflation-bank-of-england-letter">Continue reading...</a>BusinessInflationEconomicsBank of EnglandLehman BrothersBankingCommoditiesTue, 16 Aug 2011 19:39:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/aug/16/inflation-bank-of-england-letterNils Pratley2011-08-16T19:39:43ZStraining credibilityhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/13/bankofenglandgovernor-interest-rates
Martin Weale, member of the Bank of England's MPC, thinks a rate rise is necessary now. That would ruin the BoE's reputation<p>Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has been in town trumpeting the ECB's record on inflation. Since 1999, eurozone inflation has been 1.97% on average, which is not bad if you're targeting 2%. A "precision landing", boasted Trichet.</p><p>The Bank of England's record in getting close to 2% is also very good if you take the long view since independence in 1997. But it's the recent imprecision that's worrying people. Martin Weale, a member of the Bank's rate-setting committee, pointed out that UK inflation had overshot its 2% target in 34 of the past 40 months. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/13/calls-rate-rise-reveal-tensions-bank-england" title="">Weale wants rates to be increased, and has been voting that way since January.</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/13/bankofenglandgovernor-interest-rates">Continue reading...</a>Bank of EnglandBusinessInterest ratesEconomicsInflationMon, 13 Jun 2011 20:25:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/13/bankofenglandgovernor-interest-ratesPhotograph: Toby Melville/ReutersThe Bank of England has overshot its 2% inflation target for 34 of the past 40 months. Photograph: Toby Melville/ReutersPhotograph: Toby Melville/ReutersThe Bank of England has overshot its 2% inflation target for 34 of the past 40 months. Photograph: Toby Melville/ReutersNils Pratley2011-06-13T20:25:23ZBounce in inflation shouldn't leave Mervyn stumpedhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/18/interest-rates-inflation
The Bank of England governor should keep interest rates low to stay on course and hope commodity prices stop rising<p>Remember Mervyn King's Ashes analogy? The members of the monetary policy committee would act like English batsmen, said the governor of the Bank of England last November. They would be balanced at the crease and stand ready to play forward or back according to the length of the delivery. They would watch the incoming data and adjust policy in either direction to keep medium-term inflation at 2%.</p><p>Now the MPC members know they've been bowled a bouncer, a Mitchell Johnson-style snorter aimed at the throat. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/18/inflation-december-2010-record-monthly-increase" title="Guardian: Inflation hits 3.7% after record monthly increase">Inflation in December was 3.7% </a>– above target, above City expectations and the highest reading for eight months. More inflation seems to be on the way: VAT has gone up; the price of oil is edging closer to $100 a barrel and, perhaps most worrying, higher prices are seen everywhere, from airfares to food.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/18/interest-rates-inflation">Continue reading...</a>Interest ratesInflationBusinessBank of EnglandMervyn KingEconomicsTue, 18 Jan 2011 20:37:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jan/18/interest-rates-inflationPhotograph: Paul Harding/Action ImagesAustralia's fast bowler Mitchell Johnson. The MPC faces a series of tricky decisions as inflation rises but weak growth needs low rates to continue. Photograph: Paul Harding/Action ImagesPhotograph: Paul Harding/Action ImagesAustralia's fast bowler Mitchell Johnson. The MPC faces a series of tricky decisions as inflation rises but weak growth needs low rates to continue. Photograph: Paul Harding/Action ImagesNils Pratley2011-01-18T20:37:21ZExpect more explanatory epistles from Mervyn King to George Osbornehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/17/bank-of-england-inflation-george-osborne
Mervyn King, has cited the depreciation in sterling "since mid-2007" as one reason why the CPI is still stuck above 3%<p>What is a "temporary" effect on inflation? About three years and counting, it seems. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, has cited the depreciation in sterling "since mid-2007" as one reason why the CPI reading is still stuck above 3%. The pass-through of higher import prices (plus the VAT increase and the past rises in the oil price) will prove to have a "temporary impact" on inflation, he judges.</p><p>It's a reasonable argument, of course, since downward pressure from spare capacity in the economy continues to be felt – pay growth has been less than 2%, the governor noted.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/17/bank-of-england-inflation-george-osborne">Continue reading...</a>BusinessInflationEconomic policyEconomic growth (GDP)Interest ratesMervyn KingGeorge OsbornePoliticsTue, 17 Aug 2010 19:43:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/17/bank-of-england-inflation-george-osbornePhotograph: PABank of England governor Mervyn King is betting that interest rates can be kept low without provoking an inflationary surge. Photograph PAPhotograph: PABank of England governor Mervyn King is betting that interest rates can be kept low without provoking an inflationary surge. Photograph PANils Pratley2010-08-17T19:43:50ZChancellor's cheerleaders realise austerity will hurt them too | Ruth Sunderlandhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/11/economic-forecast-comment-ruth-sunderland
The City cheered the tough measures in George Osborne's budget – but now they've realised it's going to be painful for everyone<p>The harshness of George Osborne's austerity <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/budget" title="Guardian budget reports">budget</a> was a part of its appeal to the City. We had indulged in a decade of profligacy: now we must submit to painful punishment to placate the angry gods of the market.</p><p>The austerity zealots in the financial and business communities – who are also great advocates of leniency when it comes to the regulation and taxation of their own activities – correctly surmised that the chancellor would aim his heavy guns at the supposedly feather-bedded public sector. But doubts are setting in about Osborne's great gamble, because if it stymies the recovery and plunges Britain into a double-dip recession, everyone will get hurt.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/11/economic-forecast-comment-ruth-sunderland">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsUnemployment and employment statisticsInflationBudgetEconomic policyCoalition budget 2010Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:56:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/aug/11/economic-forecast-comment-ruth-sunderlandRuth Sunderland2010-08-11T16:56:25ZAn inflation hawk hovers over the Bank of Englandhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jun/23/nils-pratley-inflation-interest-rate
Andrew Sentance's lone vote for an interest rate rise comes too early - but is a sign of things to come<p>There's a hawk in the camp. We learned today that Andrew Sentance became the first member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee since August 2008 to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jun/23/bank-of-england-minutes-surprise-split" title="Guardian: Bank of England minutes reveal surprise split on interest rates">vote for a rise in interest rates</a>. This month's meeting was also the first since February 2009 when the members of the MPC disagreed. This represents the first challenge to the cosy view, seemingly endorsed by the Office for Budget Responsibility, that the MPC can be relied upon to provide the soothing ointment of low interest rates to counter the effects of George Osborne's axe.</p><p>Disagreement within the MPC at this point is healthy, of course. The consumer prices index was 3.4% in May and 3.7% in April, well above the 2% target. We would be surprised if at least one person on the committee wasn't fretting about inflation risks. The 10-year gilt yield (now below 3.5% again) betrays little anxiety in financial markets but, if the MPC's job is to get ahead of the plot, Sentance's view can't be dismissed as panicky.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jun/23/nils-pratley-inflation-interest-rate">Continue reading...</a>Interest ratesBank of EnglandInflationBusinessWed, 23 Jun 2010 19:52:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jun/23/nils-pratley-inflation-interest-ratePhotograph: David LeveneAndrew Sentance at the Bank of England. Photograph: David LevenePhotograph: David LeveneAndrew Sentance at the Bank of England. Photograph: David LeveneNils Pratley2010-06-23T19:52:49ZIf you think inflation is a cause for panic, wait till you see deflationhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/may/24/viewpoint-inflation-panic
<p>Inflation is on the up. To anyone with savings it is a menace. They are forced to watch their wealth being eroded. People on a fixed income can do little about the effect, which is to eat into their living standards.</p><p>City firms report their clients are in a panic about inflation. After last week's 5.3% retail price rise shocker, they ask where next for prices.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/may/24/viewpoint-inflation-panic">Continue reading...</a>BusinessInflationEconomicsMon, 24 May 2010 20:03:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/may/24/viewpoint-inflation-panicPhillip Inman2010-05-24T20:03:43ZFear of deflationhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/23/viewpoint-mervyn-king
<p>Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, said the burst in inflation since last autumn would be temporary. Now the evidence is arriving to support his view. Consumer price inflation fell to 3% last month, down from 3.5% in January, a steeper decline than the City's economists had expected. Perhaps they missed those "mid season sales" in the shops.</p><p>Time to relax, then? Not at all. It is reassuring that the script is developing as the Bank expects but it would be dumb to place much weight on one month's number. Michael Saunders of Citigroup, for example, has pointed out how inflation has generally overshot the consensus estimate since early 2005. Another little hike in import prices from a weak pound could easily inject another mini-surge of inflation.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/23/viewpoint-mervyn-king">Continue reading...</a>Mervyn KingInflationDeflationTue, 23 Mar 2010 20:57:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/23/viewpoint-mervyn-kingPhotograph: Chris Ratcliffe/PAMervyn King, governor of the Bank of England. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/PAPhotograph: Chris Ratcliffe/PAMervyn King, governor of the Bank of England. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/PANils Pratley2010-03-23T20:57:27ZInflation makes Mervyn King's letters too regularhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/16/inflation-bank-of-england-comment
Inflation was supposed to be curbed by Bank of England independence – now the target is being missed all too often<p>Back during what economists called the "Great Stability," when Gordon Brown and his chum Ed Balls drew up the rules for Bank of England independence, they envisaged it being rare for its governor to have to write to the chancellor because inflation was more than 1% off target. That was true for the first decade but today's <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/16/inflation-soars-vat-petrol" title="Inflation rises">missive – with inflation at 3.5%</a> – was the sixth fired off to No 11 since 2007.</p><p>What King and his fellow central bankers are discovering – as the International Monetary Fund pointed out last week – is that strictly following the rulebook and keeping inflation at around 2% during the good times hasn't left them enough room for manoeuvre when things turn scary. Once interest rates have hit rock bottom, central bankers have run out of road. They can resort to unconventional measures such as quantitative easing but they are risky and largely untested. As IMF economist <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/feb/12/imf-financial-crisis-failure" title="More inflation may be better">Olivier Blanchard mused last week</a>, would it have been so bad to let inflation jump to, say, 4%, if that meant policymakers could have made a better job of responding to the worst financial crisis since the war? The risk is that the same discredited rule-book makes the hawks on the monetary policy committee itch to rein in quantitative easing and push up rates too soon, while businesses are still coping with a credit drought, and consumers wrestling with the legacy of a decade-long borrowing binge.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/16/inflation-bank-of-england-comment">Continue reading...</a>Bank of EnglandInflationQuantitative easingTue, 16 Feb 2010 21:14:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/16/inflation-bank-of-england-commentPhotograph: Lewis Whyld/PAChancellor Alistair Darling listens to a speech by Mervyn King. He also reads rather a lot of letters from the Bank of England governor. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PAPhotograph: Lewis Whyld/PAChancellor Alistair Darling listens to a speech by Mervyn King. He also reads rather a lot of letters from the Bank of England governor. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PAJulia Finch2010-02-16T21:14:16ZMervyn King and fleeting inflationhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/10/viewpoint-mervy-king
Mervyn King is confident in his views on inflation<p>For a man who used the words "uncertain" and "uncertainty" four times in his opening remarks earlier today, Mervyn King appears very confident about one thing: inflation's rise above 3%, which probably happened in January as VAT went up, will be a fleeting affair.</p><p>But is such confidence really well placed? Of course, we know the reasons behind it. They are the same as they were in the Bank of England's Inflation Report last November: there is spare capacity in the economy, pay rises are a rarity and unemployment is still high.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/10/viewpoint-mervy-king">Continue reading...</a>Mervyn KingInflationBank of EnglandOilWed, 10 Feb 2010 20:16:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/feb/10/viewpoint-mervy-kingPhotograph: PA Wire/PAMervyn King delivers his inflation report earlier today. Photograph: PAPhotograph: PA Wire/PAMervyn King delivers his inflation report earlier today. Photograph: PANils Pratley2010-02-10T20:16:07ZInflation still has enough kick to hurt the Bankhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/17/bank-of-england-inflation-rate
For now, the Bank's script is intact but the governor's next letter to the chancellor will be to explain why inflation is above 3%, not why it is below 1%<p>The broad outlook for inflation, as sponsored by the Bank of England, runs like this. The data will show a sharp rise, starting with the jump from 1.1% to 1.5% in October, as last year's falls in petrol prices drop out of the year-on-year comparisons. There will be a further upwards kick after new year when the rate of VAT is increased. But the spike should not last long. Recession has produced spare capacity in the economy and the "output gap" should keep price rises in check in 2010.</p><p>This plot probably does describe the current best guess, but it is worth exploring alternatives.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/17/bank-of-england-inflation-rate">Continue reading...</a>Bank of EnglandInflationBusinessRecessionTue, 17 Nov 2009 21:03:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/17/bank-of-england-inflation-rateNils Pratley2009-11-17T21:03:00ZCameron too dogmatic on quantitative easinghttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/viewpoint-inflation-cpi-cameron
<p>Expect volatile inflation figures, said the Bank of England in its last quarterly report, and here they come: the consumer prices index (CPI) fell to 1.1% in September, a big drop from August's 1.6%.</p><p>So surely governor Mervyn King's prophesy will be fulfilled. He said it was "more likely than not" that he would have to write a letter to the chancellor this year to explain why inflation is more than a percentage point below the target of 2%. There are two more readings to be taken this year – plenty of time to see a sub-1% number.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/viewpoint-inflation-cpi-cameron">Continue reading...</a>InflationQuantitative easingDavid CameronBusinessPoliticsMervyn KingTue, 13 Oct 2009 19:56:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/viewpoint-inflation-cpi-cameronNils Pratley2009-10-13T19:56:32ZDanger of easing back on quantitative easinghttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/inflation-bank-of-england
<p>Expect volatile inflation figures, said the Bank of England in its last quarterly report, and here they come: the consumer prices index (CPI) fell to 1.1% in September, a big drop from August's 1.6%.</p><p>So surely governor Mervyn King's prophesy will be fulfilled. He said it was "more likely than not" that he would have to write a letter to the chancellor this year to explain why inflation is more than a percentage point below the target of 2%. There are two more readings to be taken this year – plenty of time to see a sub-1% number.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/inflation-bank-of-england">Continue reading...</a>InflationQuantitative easingBank of EnglandDavid CameronWhitbreadMarks & SpencerSir Stuart RoseTue, 13 Oct 2009 19:35:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/13/inflation-bank-of-englandNils Pratley2009-10-13T19:35:08ZDon't be fooled by this goldrushhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/06/gold-currencies-recession
<p>Here we go again. Gold is back above $1,000 a troy ounce for the third time this year, lifted by a bout of fresh weakness in the dollar, itself the result of contemplation of the imminent demise of the greenback as the world's reserve currency. If that explanation doesn't convince, goldbugs will offer others. Perhaps everybody is buying protection against the arrival of inflation since the investment world seems to be agreed that central banks will serve up too much monetary medicine.</p><p>Or perhaps the gold spree is part of the general enthusiasm for metals and commodities, which optimists regard as evidence of strong recovery in the global economy. And, look, the Australians, whose economy is built on mining, are raising interest rates – demand from China must be strong.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/06/gold-currencies-recession">Continue reading...</a>CommoditiesCurrenciesInflationMiningSupermarketsNorthern RockInvescoBankingTescoTue, 06 Oct 2009 19:22:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/06/gold-currencies-recessionNils Pratley2009-10-06T19:22:07ZInflation: We are getting lost in the minutiaehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/19/inflation-deflation
<p>Deflation or inflation? The figure of 1.8% for consumer price inflation (CPI) in July caught the City on the hop – 1.5% or 1.6% was the expectation.</p><p>Naturally, the inflation-worriers seized on the number as evidence that inflationary forces are persistently high in the UK. What, they asked, was Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, banging on about last week when he said that it is "more likely than not" that CPI will fall below 1% later this year? Shouldn't he be preparing the ground for interest-rate increases?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/19/inflation-deflation">Continue reading...</a>InflationDeflationBusinessWed, 19 Aug 2009 06:41:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/19/inflation-deflationNils Pratley2009-08-19T06:41:50ZBritish Land needs firmer foundationshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/18/viewpoint-nils-pratley-british-land
The property group isn't as excited about its prospects as outsiders seem to be<p>Few areas of the stockmarket have been infected by the recent feel-good factor like commercial property. Gains in share prices of 30% or more have been seen since early July. The calculation by investors has been straightforward: if property values are close to finding a floor, it surely won't be long before they're rising again.</p><p>In British Land's case, added fizz has been provided by the thought of corporate action around the corner – a sale of part of the Broadgate development in the City or, more ambitiously, a full-blown bid from overseas.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/18/viewpoint-nils-pratley-british-land">Continue reading...</a>British LandInflationDeflationRecessionJohn LewisTue, 18 Aug 2009 19:53:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/aug/18/viewpoint-nils-pratley-british-landNils Pratley2009-08-18T19:53:43ZViewpoint: Prepare for a VL recovery (that's very long, to you and me)https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/13/inflation-bank-england-nils-pratley-viewpoint
<p>Mervyn King came bearing uncertainties yesterday. The bands on the Bank of England's famous fan charts, setting out the range of possible outcomes, seemed wider than ever. But the governor was clear on one point: "The risks are weighted towards a relatively slow and protracted recovery."</p><p>This assessment feels intuitively correct. To see why the effects of "balance sheet restructuring" – a process the governor referred to repeatedly yesterday – can be so powerful, consider an illustration offered by Jeremy Grantham, the celebrated US fund manager, in his latest dispatch.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/13/inflation-bank-england-nils-pratley-viewpoint">Continue reading...</a>Bank of EnglandInflationRecessionGlobal recessionWed, 13 May 2009 22:32:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/13/inflation-bank-england-nils-pratley-viewpointNils Pratley2009-05-13T22:32:25ZJulia Finch: Inflation - that's so last yearhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/17/inflation-anurag-dikshit-partygaming-fraud
<p>The smaller-than-expected drop in headline inflation does not mean Britain will avoid its first bout of deflation for decades, but it does suggest the fall in the pound may be slightly delaying it. CPI fell back to 4.1% last month, from 4.5% the month before. Normally that would count as a big move but the drop was smaller than the City expected - it had forecast 3.9%.</p><p>Whether that is because the City is no good at forecasting is a moot point. The ONS said that while petrol prices collapsed 8% in one month, the CPI was held up by rising food prices, particularly fruit which is mainly imported at this time of year and priced in dollars.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/17/inflation-anurag-dikshit-partygaming-fraud">Continue reading...</a>InflationEconomicsRetail industryInterest ratesBusinessGlobal economyDeflationWed, 17 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/17/inflation-anurag-dikshit-partygaming-fraudJulia Finch2008-12-17T00:01:00ZViewpoint: Get ready for deep cuts in interest rateshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/25/interest-rates-credit-crunch
<p>Charles Bean, deputy governor of the Bank of England, took the prize for the most apocalyptic vision yesterday. The economic slump is still in its early stages, he said, as a result of "possibly the largest financial crisis of its kind in human history".</p><p>This is quite a statement from a senior Bank official and surely means that the monetary policy committee (MPC) - finally - has got the message about the severity of the coming recession. Get ready for deep cuts in interest rates. In the US they have been cut to 1.5%. In Britain, where the economic crisis suddenly looks more serious than in the US, rates still stand at 4.5%. The two figures should now close, rapidly.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/25/interest-rates-credit-crunch">Continue reading...</a>BusinessInterest ratesInflationRecessionBank of EnglandEconomicsEconomic policyMoneyFri, 24 Oct 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/25/interest-rates-credit-crunchNils Pratley2008-10-24T23:01:00ZViewpoint: Dear Mervyn, don't follow instructions to the letterhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/18/interestrates.inflation
<p>Inflation is 3.3% and rising. In the real world it seems to be going up even faster than that because people shop every week for the things that are rising sharply in price - food and petrol - but only rarely for the flat-screen TVs that are cheaper than a year ago.</p><p>In 1997, Gordon Brown gave the Bank of England the job of keeping the annual increase in the cost of living to 2% - no ifs, no buts, no excluding the bits of the economy where prices were going up. So why then is Threadneedle Street pussyfooting around with interest rates at 5% instead of putting up the cost of borrowing to a level that would meet its legal mandate?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/18/interestrates.inflation">Continue reading...</a>Interest ratesInflationBank of EnglandEconomicsRetail industryExecutive pay and bonusesRoyal Bank of ScotlandBusinessEconomic policyPoliticsTue, 17 Jun 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/18/interestrates.inflationJulia Finch2008-06-17T23:01:00Z